The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) has today announced the award of a one star rating to Swindon Borough Councils Social Services, for improvements made within the last 12 months to the service it provides to the people of Swindon.
The star rating has moved Swindon up from a zero rating, and indicates the councils improved level of service. This is a very significant announcement for the Council because it moves it on from the zero star position in where it has been for some years.
The achievement has been enthusiastically received by over 1000 staff who have been working extremely hard to ensure the people of Swindon receive high quality services in care homes, home care services, child care and support for vulnerable adults and children.
Changes include staff working more closely with their health colleagues, which has been particularly successful. This new and innovative way of working together has provided a more co-ordinated approach and introduced better co-operation.
Social Services staff have worked extremely hard on the areas where there was a need to improve services, and this has been reflected in the performance indicators by which the Council is measured by CSCI. Staff and managers remain totally focussed on continuing to achieve improvement across the board and improving the quality of services still further.
Swindon Borough Council leader Mike Bawden (Conservative) says: I would like to sincerely acknowledge all the hard work and efforts that our staff have put in to bring up the council star rating level of achievement. I would also like to thank Councillor Ian Dobie, who has tirelessly supported social services, and Councillor Jemima Milton before him, for her conscientious involvement. I would also like to acknowledge Kent County Council for the support and guidance it has given to Swindon.
I am delighted that we are reliably delivering our promises on time and I am confident we will rapidly move to a two star social services rating next year.
Swindon Borough Council Chief Executive Sir Michael Pitt says: I want to pay tribute to Swindon staff for the way they changed their way of working and adapting so adeptly to the innovative systems that were put into place. They worked hard, accepted the new concepts and ideas and put them into action.
This helped to build a strong and self-confident department and created better communication which impacted directly on improved quality of service for the public.
The contribution we received from acting Social Service Director, Andrew Ireland, took us to our first star, and Id like to thank Kent county council for their commitment to the franchise for Swindon Borough Council.
Councillor Ian Dobie, who was until recently Cabinet member for all of Social Services said: We narrowly missed a star last year so Im delighted that we have now achieved one. The inspectors found much to praise and lots of areas where weve put in place a firm foundation on which we can build on next year.
Cllr Justin Tomlinson, "This is fantastic news, and is yet further proof that the Conservatives are not only stamping down the endless Labour Council Tax hikes, but driving up improvements right across the Council."